Page 9 of Oleander

CHAPTER SIX

“What do you want me to do, Luke? I can talk to him,” said Mike.

“No,” he said shaking his head. “Rod was a Marine. He’s more than qualified to help with this investigation. We won’t keep him from his shifts but we’ll allow him to be a part of it. This is a shock to us as much as it is to him. We all knew Ms. Martin. She’d been here a long time.”

“I’m with Rod on this one. It seems strange that she chose to live out here alone, far from everything and everyone,” said Mike.

“She was always a bit eccentric,” said Eric. “I mean that in a nice way. She would give to the church, show up for potluck dinners, give to the kids at Halloween and send gifts to the school at Christmas. We just thought it was sweet. We should have paid more attention to her.”

“I did,” said a familiar voice. They all turned to see Irene in a golden glow walking toward them.

“Grandma, what do you mean?” asked Luke. Rod walked back into the room, head down as if he’d done something wrong.

“I mean, I came to see her at least once a week. She knew about me and didn’t judge. Didn’t care about me and Matthew. She was a smart woman, reasonable. These last few weeks though, somethin’ changed. She was on edge but wouldn’t tell us anything. Even Matthew tried and she just said her bones were achin’. I didn’t believe her. She was as spry as a chicken.”

“Did she mention names, Miss Irene?” asked Roderick. Irene touched his face, hoping the touch would bring him some sort of peace. Smiling up at him, she kissed his cheek.

“Baby, she didn’t mention names and we didn’t pry. I wish we had.”

“Rod, you don’t seem surprised at seeing my grandmother,” frowned Luke.

“No, I’m not. I was here a few times when Miss Irene came by. She and Ms. Martin made me promise not to say anything.”

“And you didn’t,” smiled Irene.

“No, ma’am. A promise is a promise. Even one made to a ghost,” he smirked.

After the body of Dorothy Martin was taken away by the funeral home, Rod finally went inside the house and stared at the furnishings. Clean, well-maintained, but all older. There were a few scattered photos of her daughter. One photo of her wedding taken decades ago.

On the refrigerator was a grocery list scribbled in pencil. She had a flyer as a reminder of the upcoming church social and next to that a note that nearly killed Roderick.

Don’t forget Roderick’s birthday – August 31

“She remembered,” he sniffed. Mike, Luke, Cam, Eric, and Hex watched as he fell to the floor sobbing.

“Brother, it’s alright. She was a special woman,” said Eric hugging the man.

“No one ever remembered my birthday. Not even my granny.”

“Well, it looks like she remembered. Let’s make sure we honor her by finding who killed her,” said Eric. Rod nodded, wiping his face with the back of his arm.

The one small bedroom was neatly maintained. The floral wallpaper made him chuckle.

“You might want to change that,” smirked Hex.

“You know what? I don’t think I mind it so much,” he smiled. Hex smiled back at him, nodding.

“We can take care of her clothing,” said Sira with a sympathetic expression.

“I think I’d appreciate that,” said Rod. “I’m not sure I could touch her personal things.”

“If we find anything we think you might want, we’ll box it up for you. Do you want to keep all the furniture?”

“I-I’m not sure,” he said somewhat lost.

“You don’t have to decide right now, honey,” said Jill. “Just think about it. We’re going to get back and do the legal mumbo jumbo to get the will settled and everything distributed as she requested. We’ll hold your funds in trust until you’re ready to deposit them or invest.”

“Thank you. Thank you all. I wouldn’t have known what to do with this.”